Antares Therapeutics Launches with $177 Million to Develop First-in-Class Precision Medicines for Cancer and Other Serious Diseases

Business Wire

4 days ago

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Antares Therapeutics, Inc. ('Antares'), a biotechnology company developing first-in-class precision medicines for cancer and other serious diseases, launched today with $177 million in Series A financing. The financing was co-led by Omega Funds, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed Venture Partners, BVF Partners, and Cormorant Asset Management, with participation from Vinyanshu Ventures, Abingworth, Invus, Tenmile, Vida Ventures, and Willett Advisors.
Antares is a spin-out of Scorpion Therapeutics, Inc. ('Scorpion'), which sold its mutant-selective PI3Kα inhibitor program, STX-478, to Eli Lilly and Company ('Lilly') in March 2025 for up to $2.5 billion in total consideration. Scorpion was founded in 2020 and, in the subsequent five years, raised a total of $420 million in financing, executed partnerships with multiple pharmaceutical companies, and generated six development candidates, three of which are in clinical testing. Antares is led by Scorpion's former executive leadership team and is advancing a pipeline of small molecule assets developed at Scorpion, including programs in precision oncology and other therapeutic areas, as well as programs initiated through Scorpion's 2022 transcription factor collaboration with AstraZeneca.
'We took our name from Antares, the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation, and known as 'the heart of the Scorpion.' We are building from a strong foundation with a team of experts who are experienced in making new medicines, as well as proprietary drug discovery capabilities and a robust preclinical pipeline fueled by discoveries in drugging previously inaccessible targets,' said Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Antares and former Chief Executive Officer of Scorpion. 'We are committed to leveraging our expertise to address well-validated, first-in-class targets across oncology and other serious diseases, and to continuing to execute a fast-to-clinic strategy to bring medicines to patients in need.'
'At Omega, we focus on identifying approaches and working with exceptional teams to deliver impactful products to patients,' said Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D., Founder and Managing Director at Omega Funds. 'Antares meets each of these criteria. As one of the founding investors in Scorpion, we have had the opportunity to follow the company's evolution very closely and have been consistently impressed by the breadth of the team's capabilities, as well as their scientific rigor and rapid execution. I look forward to seeing the company's vision advance by delivering differentiated, first-in-class products to treat some of the most important unmet medical needs.'
Additionally, Antares announced that Pierre Fabre Laboratories, with whom Scorpion previously partnered to advance two clinical-stage, highly selective next-generation mutant EGFR inhibitors for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, has acquired global rights to both programs. Under the terms of the agreement, Pierre Fabre Laboratories will lead the continued clinical development and global commercialization of both programs, and Antares will be eligible to receive regulatory and commercial milestones and tiered royalties.
Antares' leadership team
Antares is led by the former Scorpion executive team, including leaders with accomplished track records in the biotechnology industry:
Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Natasja Brooijmans, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Discovery Predictive Sciences
Mark Chao, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer
Andrew Fedder, General Counsel
Angel Guzman-Perez, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Head of Chemistry
Erica Jackson, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer
Darrin Stuart, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer
Amanda Valentino, Chief People Officer
The company's Board of Directors are industry veterans with company-building expertise, as well as experience pioneering breakthrough medicines:
Jeff Albers, J.D., M.B.A., Board Chair at Antares Therapeutics and Venture Partner at Atlas Venture
Shelley Chu, M.D., Ph.D., Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners
Keith Flaherty, M.D., Director of Clinical Research at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Professor at Harvard Medical School
Jean-François Formela, M.D., Partner at Atlas Venture
Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Antares Therapeutics
Sir Menelas Pangalos, Ph.D., formerly Executive Vice President of Biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca
'After years of investment into its proprietary drug discovery capabilities, the team at Antares has made notable progress to unlock the therapeutic potential of targets long seen as important – but undruggable – like the large class of transcription factors,' said Sir Menelas Pangalos, Ph.D., independent member of the Antares Board. 'I look forward to partnering with the Antares team as they address some of the most complex challenges in science.'
'Antares will build on what Scorpion started: combining cutting edge computational and experimental chemistry and biology with laser-focused clinical development,' said Keith Flaherty, M.D., Director of Clinical Research at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. "This team has demonstrated an ability to break through longstanding limits in medicinal chemistry to advance a pipeline of first-in-class assets, aiming to change the treatment landscape for patients.'
About Antares Therapeutics
Antares Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing transformational, first-in-class precision medicines with a focus on validated, undruggable targets in cancer and other serious diseases with large unmet need. Antares' most advanced program is expected to enter the clinic in 2026, with multiple additional programs in preclinical development. To learn more, visit www.antaresrx.com and follow us on LinkedIn.